A Day in the Life

I try to not get too personal on the old blogosphere. I truthfully find the rampant self-revelation that goes on on the internet a tad bit narcissistic. However, I am a pastor and we are veritable connoisseurs of narcissism. So, I will indulge myself this time. I want to tell you about my day. I woke up, got out of bed, dragged the comb across my head. O.k., I'm sorry, I had to push the Beatles reference a little. Anyway, I went to work today and seemed to be busy from the get go. I did something that I rarely do. I closed my office door to pray before worship (I always pray - I rarely close the door). I just had a real need to pray. Of course, within a few minutes there was a knock on the door. It was my youth director. There was an issue with a young man who is a friend of one of our youth. I went downstairs and attended to the young man. By then, it was almost time for worship, so I scrambled to get my things together, and headed for the sanctuary. After worship, I got to spend time with a variety of people talking about all kinds of different things, some of the issues were deeply personal, some just your run of the mill friendly conversation. By lunch time, I was already exhausted. I spent a few hours in the office catching up on paper work (I always seem to be behind). And then we had an important meeting at church at 5:00 p.m. I am proud of my church. After years of struggling with our finances, we approved a package that will help us to move forward in ministry. It is an exciting time to be the pastor at Light of the Canyon. After the meeting, I met with the NAMI class (National Alliance on Mental Illness) that meets at our church, and spoke with them. They received me very warmly and I am very happy that they meet at our church. Finally, I came home to Cindy and Corran, always a wonderful thing. As I reflected on my day, I was struck by the ups and downs, the different experiences, the whole meaning of it all. And then I realized, it was a good day. And I have a good life. I get to talk to people about the love of God, I get to help them deal with both joy and grief, I get to preach (I love preaching). I shuffle papers around, I make phone calls, I plan, I dream, I hope and I pray. I am a rich man, maybe not Dinald Trump rich, but rich in a fiscally challenged kind of way. And I thank God. That's really all I wanted to say tonight. Thank you for reading. God bless you.

Here I Stand - Part 7

Well, as sad as I am sure many of you are, our series on core principles must come to an end. I am in the middle of a sermon series entitled "The Extreme Center: Reloaded," and so I think now is an appropriate time to chime in with core principle #7. "Christian faith is both personal and social." Again, this is no great mystery, no monumental insight. However, this is something that so many people of faith forget. Jesus Christ gave his followers a holy mandate. The greatest commandment (greatest being most awesome, most wonferful, most incredible, but also it meaning most important [i.e. the commandment that all other commandments hinge upon]) is that we love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Bada-boom, bada-bing. There it is. He does not tell us to say a certain prayer or proclaim allegiance to a particular creed. He simply says, "love God." Love is not an act of will. And that very same love that we extend to God - in response to the reality that He has first extended it to us - should also be extended to our neighbor. And Jesus is pretty clear (pretty clear - nothing - He flat out says it), that our neighbor is anyone in need, be they friend or enemy, Christian or non-Christian. No one is outside of the grace of God. So, Christian faith will have components of personal holiness as well as social justice. That is the kind of complete faith that Jesus calls his followers to. Anything less is just...it's just...well it's just not complete (and we Methodists are big on completion). There are many scriptures that illuminate this principle further. here are a few. Matthew 25:31-46, Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 16:19-34. This principle is what I am talking about when I talk about the "extreme center."

The Yin and the Yang of It All

This has been an interesting week. Tuesday, February 10 was the first year anniversary of my dad's death. I won't bore you trying to describe how much I miss him; suffice it to say that I do, as do friends and family. But, as if conspiring to bring me crashing back into the present, my beloved son Corran yanked out his third loose tooth this week. It is funny, but before I became a father, I actually envisioned having something to do with my child losing his teeth when the time came. But, Corran (much like his dad, I must admit), when he feels that little sucker getting loose, he just works it and works it until it is out. And as I sit and consider all of the emotions of this past week, I am struck by the constant interaction, entanglement - whatever you choose to call it - of the past and the present. I mourn the loss of my dad. I miss him, and I especially wish he were around to continue to give me advice on those rare occasions when I was willing to ask him for it. At the same time, my little boy (who is almost looking me in the eye at the ripe old age of 6) continues to grow and learn and discover and seek and everything else that boys do. And he looks to me the same way that I looked at my dad, as if I actually know what is going on in this world, as if I have some semblance of control of the events that happen in our lives. And I just look at him with probably the same fear and hope, the same trepidation and faith, with which my dad looked at me. In my heart, I tell him. I will do my best, little man. But, God is in charge. I am not big enough for the job (both literally and figuratively). It just blows my mind how heaven and earth, how eternity and the moment, collide every day. When I think of my dad and my son, I am reminded of a saying that a college professor used to say to us. "It's your world; I'm just passing through." And that's the yin and the yang of it all.